Weekend Getaway: Pacific Beach
For mother’s day this year (my second one ever!) I wanted to take our daughter Milly to the beach for the first time, so we planned a very last minute trip to the Washington coast with my parents. It was fast, but we had a great time. Here’s what our weekend looked like!
Friday
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8pm: Arrive at our VRBO
We live in central WA, and it’s times like these that I remember just how freaking big our state is. We thought we would be smart and take a half day at work so we could start the drive earlier. Well, thanks to some real bad traffic, what should’ve been a 5 hour drive ended up being a 7 hour drive. Which is not fun. But with a one and a half year old it’s even more not fun. If you’re making a similar drive, learn from our mistakes and try to avoid rush hour traffic in the Seattle/ Tacoma areas!
Here’s a link to our VRBO rental. While it was definitely an older beach house, we really liked it. It was charming, had everything you need (including a BBQ, fire pit, and beach toys), was so close to the beach, and right next door to a coffee shop.
8:30pm: Walk to the beach to catch the end of the sunset
Friday night we walked very quickly to the beach (it’s like a three minute walk) so that we could catch the very tail end of the sunset. It had been such a beautiful day (which we enjoyed from inside our car whilst in traffic), and we didn’t want to miss a little beach time.
This was Milly’s first time at the beach ever, and we were glad to let her run around a bit after being in the car for so long. It was JUST beautiful!
9:30pm: Have a drink by the (electric) fireplace
When we got back from the beach, we put the baby to bed and turned on the electric fireplace in the living room. We cracked open a cold one, relaxed, and did some reading. It was a great way to unwind before bed.
Saturday
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7:45am: Walk to Surf House Espresso next door
Even though we packed food for the weekend, I didn’t pack coffee because I knew there was a cafe right next door. (Like, really right next door.) We walked over in the morning, and while it wasn’t fast, the barista was sweet and we were on beach time anyway. ;) I got just a plain drip coffee (Seattle’s Best – yum) and two cinnamon rolls for us to share. They were SO good.
9am: Make breakfast at the house
We packed a cooler full of all the food we would need for the weekend. Since it was going to be such a quick trip, we didn’t want to bother with trying to go out to eat. We wanted to maximize our beach time! I made us an easy breakfast scramble and mom-osas, since it was Mother’s Day weekend, which my mom and I drank out of our pretty Corksicle tumblers I ordered from here! These were our Mother’s Day gifts. And yes, I picked out my own Mother’s day gift this year. ;)
10am: Walk to the beach
Our weather was overcast and pretty chilly, but Milly still had the best time running around barefoot on the beach! She didn’t care that it was cold, and still wanted to splash in the water all day long.
1pm: Walk to the shops
We relaxed at the house during Milly’s nap time, and had a very light lunch. My mom and I walked to a little shop that was attached to the coffee shop – I tried finding the name of it online but no luck. It had a lot of cute clothes, decor, toys, and little trinkets. I bought a little toy for Milly to surprise her with when she woke up from her nap.
4pm: Back to the beach
We had to go back to the beach for one last time for Milly to splash around before dinner.
5:30pm: BBQ dinner on the deck
We used the grill to make delicious steak salads. There’s a lot of seating out on the deck as well, if the weather is nice enough to sit outside.
8pm: Drinks and games
After the baby went to bed, the adults had some drinks and played Scattergories – one of my faves! (Which I brought from home. I can’t remember if they had games at the house or not.)
Sunday
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7:30am: Coffee at Surf House Espresso (again)
We not only got coffee at Surf House again, but we also got two cinnamon rolls again. I wasn’t joking when I said they’re really good.
9am: Walk to the gazebo
If we didn’t have a toddler who requires a bath after every beach venture, we probably would’ve walked down to the water again. We settled for walking over to the adorable gazebo that was basically across the street from the coffee shop.
10:30am: Head home
Check out wasn’t until 11am, but we headed out a little early. We had a long drive home, after all. (Although it was nothing compared to what we experienced on Friday!)
We had such a great weekend, although I wish it had been just a little bit longer! I’m pretty sure Milly loved the beach, and I can’t wait to take her again sometime.
What’s your favorite place to visit on the Washington coast?